Cyclone Jawad weakens into low-pressure area, move towards Bangladesh

The well-marked low-pressure area, remnant of cyclonic storm 'Jawad', has weakened into a low-pressure system over northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts, the Met department said on Monday.

It is likely to weaken further and move towards Bangladesh, it said.

The metropolis experienced heavy rain owing to the weather system with office-goers and others facing a tough time reaching their destinations as several thoroughfares and low-lying localities lay inundated.

Fewer buses plied the roads during the day and traffic came to a halt at many places amid attempts by civic bodies to pump out water from the flooded areas, officials said.

Many schools in the city and suburbs declared a 'holiday' on Monday as light drizzle continued all throughout the day.

Several rivers, including Kalindi, Gaureshwar and Rayamangal, have been in spate since morning.

The Met department has predicted light to moderate rainfall over Kolkata, South and North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Hooghly and Nadia districts till Tuesday morning.

Many places in coastal districts of south Bengal and its neighbouring areas experienced moderate to heavy rain since Sunday morning, causing damage to standing crops in the fields.

Farmers in Sundarbans, especially in Basirhat division of North 24 Parganas, apprehended that their winter crops might get damaged as water overflowed from nearby rivers and flooded their fields

Tarakeswar in Hooghly district recorded the highest rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Monday at 17 cm, while Kalyani in Nadia got 12 cm, the weatherman said.

Other places which recorded significant rainfall are Barrackpore (11 cm), Kolkata airport (10 cm), Salt Lake (9 cm) and Alipore (7 cm).

Diamond Harbour, Contai, Digha and Sagar Island received 5 cm rainfall each, the Met department said.